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Song Fragments From the Brokenhearted Chorus
A Composite Poem

Sift dirt from any American lawn: chipped calcium and nitrogenamendments enrich the roses’ blush past burn with meal groundfrom the murdered and the lost. We process: break them downinto chemical components. Their names devolve to naked vowels.How sweet do the roses smell in Omelas? Who walks anywhere anymore?

The brokenhearted chorus fails to transform tragedy to song.
The brokenhearted chorus sings song fragments between sobs.

We cannot blame summer’s high heat for boiling temperatures, nor the flintlock alone; the spark is a mental aggress. Tell me, is this your wall of fame?

I’m afraid of the bullet, crushed
ribs, burst spleen, the stray bullet
meant for somebody else,
the execution style just for me.

The hole left by the bullet was big enough to swallow the world.

after the rape, my mother spitsthat’s what men do
I don’t know what this means
’til 8 years later when the doctor claimsit’s a girl
lays the bloody thing on my chest

17 for only three days. Broke Junko into thoughtless pieces. Encased the body in cement. Still they walk free

Maybe,
It’s the fact that when the body is broken, it becomes something different entirely; a pinata crafted out of sinew and bone, and we can feel all of the magic fall out in drops.

your fingers, no more bones than my bones
onions in the pale of orgasm, I seek to hide from you

The boomerang effect has been building from war to war. A clicking of dog tags. An army of medics and morticians.

If the heart were a garden, bruises could be blooms
and screams could be transposed as songs like those
of bees and hummingbirds. If the heart were a garden,
breaking one would be like breaking the ground in Spring.

6 thoughts on “‘Song Fragments From the Brokenhearted Chorus’: A Composite Poem”

No doctor in sight
They’ve scrambled beyond the border
You gasp
Try to recapture the air rushing
Out of your punctured lungs
Let me give you breath
I have enough for one – maybe
So many more joining the line
Like you
Their sanguine blossoms gushing
Onto asphalt and cement
We gather as many…
No break for lament
As more are dying to join
The Club Thanatos

Hear the whistling bullets thud in flesh
Ricochet, crack,
Crush bones
A new jazz fusion from Hades,
Latest from across The Styx
Drum bones
Wince from pain
Bass of skull hitting hard
Pavement
Seeking escape in the music
Cacophony of cries
Quo vadis?
Take a message
I may join you
Oof! Ouch! Gawwwwwd! This hurts!
Later!!!
Exhalinnnng
Point final